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The carrier reported a fall in profits yesterday, despite an increase in revenue and passenger numbers, with high fuels bills – as well as French air traffic control strikes and the fall in value of sterling – to blame. Now it is urging its crew to cut flying speeds, adding around two minutes to every hour in the air.

Howard Miller, chief financial officer, told the Financial Times: “We’re flying slightly slower, but what we’re seeing is we’re burning less fuel. Fuel is our single biggest cost, so we have a proportionally bigger problem than everybody else from these higher fuel prices.”

It is not the first time Ryanair has gone to unusual lengths to trim its fuel bill by reducing the weight of items on board.

Last year it reduced the size of its in-flight magazine “Let’s Go with Ryanair”, publishing it on A5 paper, rather than A4, while making it double as an in-flight menu. The move was expected to reduce spending on fuel by thousands of pounds and cut printing costs by more than £400,000.

A spokesman even claimed it had asked staff to keep their waistlines in check. “We cut costs wherever possible, and the changes will represent a significant reduction in weight,” he told Telegraph Travel. “We also considered removing armrests, but decided against it. We even encourage staff to watch their weight – with the motivation of appearing in the annual Ryanair calendar.”

Other policies implemented by Ryanair include cutting the amount of ice taken on board a flight, and reducing the weight of trolleys and seats.

Measures taken by other carriers include the removal of magazine racks and rubbish bins and the replacement of glassware in first-class cabins with plastic cups.

In 2008, Air Canada removed life vests from some of its aircraft in favour of lighter floatation devices. Authorities approved the change, so long as it was limited to aircraft which didn’t venture more than 50 miles from the shore.

And in the 1980s, Robert Crandall, the former chief executive of American Airlines, claimed the carrier had made annual savings of $40,000 by removing one olive from every salad served on board its flights.